Life Support
by Akari Van Halen
Summary: Chapter 5 is here! Collins' POV of the night he met Angel-after the Life Support meeting. R&R please! New-Chapters 1 and 2 revised!
1. The Meeting

Life Support  
By Akari Van Halen

Disclaimer: Although Jonathan Larson is gone now and someone else owns his characters and songs, I do not, therefore I now bring you this fic! Enjoy! (P.S. This is my 1st heartfelt fic. So no laughing!)

Chapter 1. The Meeting

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"I'll meet you at the show. I'll try to convince Roger to go," said Mark.

"See you then."

I waved goodbye and walked over to her. She was beautiful. It was hard to believe that she found me at my worst. I can't believe those bastards... they took my coat, of all things. But it was her that just may have brightened my holiday. She made me feel like...like...

"Tom?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"Huh? Oh—yeah. Fine," I said. _Fine, _I thought. _Just like her_. She took my hand and we left the meeting for Maureen's performance. We soon got tired of walking and called a taxi, courtesy of her. She really lives up to her name—Angel.

We were close to the lot when Angel told the driver to stop. We got out and I asked her where we were going. She didn't respond; she just took my hand and we went to a vendor. I was confused. Then I noticed that Angel was looking at me.

"Pick one," she said.

"You don't have to do this," I told her.

"Hush your mouth. It's Christmas," she replied.

_I didn't deserve her. I just didn't deserve her..._

Then I noticed something the vendor had. Something familiar.

"THAT'S MY COAT!" I yelled.

"We give discounts," said the vendor, like it meant nothing to her.

"Let's get a better one," Angel said calmly.

"It's a sham! She's a thief!" I said.

"She brought us together."

I decided to agree. Angel did have a point. And I hated that coat anyway. "I'll take that one. The leather," I said.

"How much you want for this?" the vendor asked Angel.

"Fifteen," she replied.

"No way. Twenty-five," the vendor argued.

"Fifteen."

After about a minute, Angel walked over to me, the coat she paid the vendor for in her arms. She handed me the coat, but it didn't look like the one I asked for. It looked nicer and much more expensive.

"Angel!" I exclaimed. "How much did this cost?"

"Fifteen," she answered. "Go ahead. Try it on."

So I did. It fit perfectly.

"I love it, Angel," I said to her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Angel replied.

"Are you ready to go to the performance? It's right up the street," I said, taking her hand.

"Okay," said Angel.

We rushed to the Eleventh Street lot, where Maureen, my friend and former roommate, was protesting through song. I introduced Angel to the guys, and as the performance began, it seemed to really get to Angel. I thought it was good too. When it was over, she took my hand and looked at me, smiling.

"What are you smiling for?" I asked, beginning to smile as well.

"You're really nice," she said.

"So are you."

We looked into each other's eyes and realized we each had a newfound love.


	2. Our Night Together

Life Support

By Akari Van Halen

Chapter 2: Our Night Together

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

A/N: Though this is rated PG-13, no slash is present in this chapter (I just can't do that, man!).

We all met up and headed to the Life Café. We were all having fun. After introducing Angel to everyone else (Mark and Roger already met her), we met a new friend of Roger's. Her name was Mimi. She seemed nice. We were all talking when Benny showed up. He just can't stop gloating sometimes. This brought me back to when we were roommates—Maureen, Mark, him, Roger, and I. Back when he wasn't a suck-up to some rich girl.

A while later, Maureen's girlfriend, Joanne, came in (or, due to what she then said upon coming in, ex-girlfriend). She told us that a riot had started at the lot. Benny had been gone for several minutes, so I knew something was up. I was right; it turned out that he had padlocked the door of Mark and Roger's building. After Angel paid the bill, we all left for the riot. Apparently, someone had called the cops. We all, however, knew who it was. It was Benny, of course. Our once best friend had now become our enemy. I could see that Angel didn't want to stay too long, so I took her hand, said goodbye to the guys, and we left. She let me take her to my apartment. We watched TV for a while. I had noticed that she had already fallen asleep, so I did not want to wake her. I placed some covers over her and I started to head towards my bedroom. However, she did wake up, but I didn't notice until I turned to close my door.

"Do you want me to take you home?" I asked her. She shook her head no. We sat down on my bed. We were silent for a moment.

"You don't wanna...now, do you?" I asked her.

"We shouldn't do it; besides, I'm too tired," she replied. "Maybe we could rest here."

"No problem with me, I said. Angel took off her coat and shoes and then lied down next to me. I got up to go to the bathroom to change, then lied down again.

"So..." I started to say.

"Yes?" she asked, turning to me.

"Oh, nothing—"

"No," she interrupted. "Tell me. What's on your mind?"

"How long have you been a...not that I'm trying to offend you," I said, sitting up.

"About six years," Angel replied, "about as long as I came out. And don't worry. You didn't offend me."

"When did you find that you were?

"I was about 18. I had a roommate, we liked the same things, and it evolved into a relationship. But then he gave me HIV, and we went our separate ways."

"I was 21. I used to be hetero, but I found that I should play for the same team."

"My parents weren't what you called happy with my decision. Especially my father. He kicked me out before my graduation. I thought that he was more scared than angry. I think he's homophobic."

"I was very distant from mine. I still am."

"Me too," I said, lying back down. "From mine, I mean. Um... what's your favorite music genre?" I then asked, trying to ease the tension.

"I'd say...R&B or soft rock. But I hate rap."

"Me too. C could be the prefix to the word, 'rap'," I said.

Angel laughed. "I get it! Crap!"

We laughed. She picks up things rather quick...

"Well...goodnight, Angel," I said.

"Goodnight."

I turned off my lamp and discreetly watched as Angel closed her eyes. I squeezed my eyes shut. I wish she wasn't HIV positive. I wish **_I_** wasn't. I sighed sadly and drifted off to sleep.


	3. New Beginnings

Life Support

By Akari Van Halen

Chapter 3

New Beginnings

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It was Christmas Day. Angel and I woke up to see the snowfall. It had snowed all night and was beginning to rise to about four to five inches.

"I got you another present," said Angel.

"Oh, Angel, I got one yesterday—" I began to say.

"...Your Christmas Eve present. This is your official Christmas Day present," she said, taking a small bag from out of her purse.

"I went out to get it while you were still asleep, but I was in such a rush to get back so that I wouldn't hurt you, I only had time to get you this," Angel then said, handing me the bag. I opened it to find a really nice, handcrafted picture frame. It was empty, of course, but I couldn't wait to get a picture in it.

"Oh, Angel," I said. "I love it."

"I love _you_," Angel replied, taking my hand and smiling at me.

Then, I thought, _those three words_. _Those three words. My family and my friends said those words to me so many times. But could Angel really mean it? Maybe...maybe this is love._

"Tom, you've been lost in quite a trail of thought lately. What's on your mind?" Angel asked, bringing me back to my senses.

I decided to ask her. "Did you really mean that?"

"Mean what?" Angel then asked.

"When you said that you loved me. Did you really mean it?"

"Of course! Do you love me?"

"Yes, I do."

"Prove it," she said, leaning towards me. I, personally, was a bit shy at this, but now I didn't care. She and I—we were in love. I leaned forward as well and then we kissed, not too slow, not too fast, but just right. This moment was just so magical, so wonderful, I wished that time stopped right now so that we could capture it forever. This was absolutely the most wonderful Christmas I've ever had.


	4. Better Far than a Metaphor Can Ever, Eve...

Life Support

By Akari Van Halen

Chapter 4

Better Far than a Metaphor Can Ever, Ever Be

_Taken from lines of the song "Metaphor," from The Fantasticks…_

_Love…you are love_

_Better far than a metaphor can ever, ever be…_

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We went to bed; after five minutes, Angel was asleep. But I was still awake, thinking about what Angel said two days ago:

_I love you…_

I didn't know how to feel. _Should I feel happy? Of course! But I don't exactly have a happy feeling inside. Should I feel confused? Because that's exactly where I started…I was confused. Did she love me? Or did she say that to heighten my self-esteem? Maybe I'm overreacting a little. She said she loved me, and I believe it, but for now, I'm really not sure—_

Angel turned over, facing me, and snuggled close to me.

_It could be a metaphor_, I then thought. _Maybe her feelings got the best of her. It was Christmas… _

Angel wrapped her arms around my neck, smiled, and kissed my neck.

"Angel?" I asked her.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Do you think we could go out on…a date?" _Oh, say yes. Please, God, say yes…_

"Of course we can! When do you want to go?" asked Angel.

"Uh…how about tomorrow night?" I asked.

"Okay," she whispered as she slowly shut her eyes.

I couldn't be happier.

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The next evening, we went to the Life Café. The night seemed nice; it had snowed earlier and stopped when we left for our "date".

In other words, it was perfect.

We sat down at our table, ordered a couple of drinks, and began to talk.

"So from what I hear, you're a pretty good performer."

"Yeah. It's just a thing for me, I guess. I never thought something like this would actually work for me, 'cause, you know, 'different strokes for different folks'," Angel said. "So…how come you like philosophy and anarchy so much?"

"Well," I began. "I hate to brag, but since I got my IQ score back, which was 185, I decided to take on the same things that Plato and Socrates said. I wanted to live full lives like they did, but the students I went to college with laughed in my face, telling me that Plato and Socrates weren't gay."

"Ouch. But they don't know that as a fact, do they?"

I laughed. "I guess you're right. No one knows for sure."

We engaged in a long, loving stare of near adoration.

_She likes everything I like!_ I thought. _And I don't have to explain a word I said or a name to her! She hangs on to my every word! She's such a great listener!_

"In your trail of thought again?" Angel asked me, a smile on her face.

"Not anymore."

We laughed. Then, the waiter came with our food…

"I'm sorry, sir, but we're out of what we needed for your meal. Would you like something else?"

That ruined my good mood. Angel could see that.

"No," said Angel to the waiter. "We can share."

"Alright. One spaghetti dinner," said the waiter, setting it down in the middle of the table. We began to eat. A while later, while we were eating, we found out that we were eating the same spaghetti piece! We knew that, but we ate it at the same time until our lips met. We laughed again, with me blushing.

"You're not a bad kisser," said Angel.

"You either," I replied.

"Wanna go for a walk?"

"Okay."

I paid the bill and we went for a walk in the cool winter night. It wasn't the most beautiful part of town to walk through, but we didn't care. After all, we were in each other's company.

"Oh, Tom, look!" said Angel. "A photo booth! Let's get our picture taken!"

"Alright," I replied. We ran across the street into the store that had the photo booth. We took three beautiful pictures, in which Angel and I kept one each for our wallets…

"What will we do with this one?" Angel asked.

"I'll find somewhere," I answered, smiling.

That night, I put the remaining picture in the picture frame. I kissed it, and put it on my nightstand. Then I got into bed next to my Angel.

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_Love, you are love,_

_My mystery…of love…_


	5. Discovery

Life Support

By Akari Van Halen

Chapter 5

Discovery

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

A/N: Flame me if you will. I used this as a project for my Creative Writing class, and I needed an 'ending'. Hours of coffee and lack of sleep brought me to this chapter. Enjoy and PLEASE review! Flames go to my email.

I thought my life was over before Angel. Sure I had my friends, but that's not very much of a consolation. I still had no immediate family. Had my parents lived, I still most likely would have been an only child with a mother and a father who would've spent more time taking trips to Aruba with each other than simply spending time with me.

It's no wonder that I turned out to be the person I am today.

I'm serious. If I had my parents around, I would've had better morals, and a better education, or perhaps, a longer life…enough about my past.

I'm only feeling this way because I just realized I'm back where I started. I have too many emotions that I'm afraid to express. I also fear I may have done something wrong in this relationship between Angel and me. This relationship was supposed to be completely mutual. And it was, but I think we may have rushed into things too quickly. After about a month together, we had…'expressed our love' to each other a few hours ago. I thought this would make me feel better, but it didn't. If this was how I felt, then I wonder how Angel was feeling…

"Angel?" I asked.

"Mm?"

"About earlier…how did you feel?"

For some reason, that didn't come out right.

"It was amazing, if that's what you mean," she answered, and then she sat up. "You…you didn't like it?"

"Oh—no! Of course I did!" I said.

"You're in your trail of thought again, aren't you?"

_She knows everything_, I thought. I then smiled. "Yeah. How did you know?"

"I guess you can say I'm like Cassius from Julius Caesar. I'm pretty observant at times." She paused. "Perhaps that's a bad example."

We laughed for a moment.

"Angel," I asked, "how do you know all this? Have you gone to college?

"No," Angel replied. "Never had the money. I got all these encyclopedias and Shakespeare plays from some community charity thing. When I came out at 16, all my parents did was fight with each other. To keep myself from a bad encounter, I'd stay in my room and read to keep my mind off it all."

"I'm sorry—about your parents' fighting and all," I said. "I never had any parents around me. They died in a car accident. Only I survived."

"Oh my God!" Angel cried, throwing her arms around me. "You never told me that! You said you were distant!"

"I—I know. I'm sorry. I just wanted you to feel like you were compatible with someone."

"No! I'm sorry! You lived so long without any parents; I've had two bad ones all my life and I'm complaining about it! And there I go again! You must think I'm a monster!" she said, looking away from me.

"No," I said, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her closer to me. "You're not. We're just two people who are misfits in this world. That just may be why we're together."

Angel smiled at me upon hearing that. We conversed and held each other for the rest of the night. I knew that everything was going to be okay. It will all get better.

Flames go to email!


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